Tubular bag provided with a cover

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a tubular pouch ( 10 ) having a tubular pouch body ( 20 ) and a lid piece ( 30 ) and, optionally, a base, especially a standing base or stand-up base, the tubular pouch body ( 20 ) having, in a lid-piece region ( 35 ), a sloped and/or angled peripheral rim ( 40 ) suitable for attachment of a lid piece ( 30 ).

The invention relates to a tubular pouch in accordance with the preambleof patent claim 1.

Tubular pouches of the kind in question herein are generally known andare used for conserving, storing and transporting liquid, paste-form,powdered, pourable and solid contents as well as for bringing suchcontents into commercial availability; such tubular pouches andpackagings produced therefrom have proved to be extremely advantageousinter alia on account of their being lightweight and easily shapeableand printable. A further advantage of such tubular pouches is their easeof disposal.

The opening behaviour of such tubular pouches or tubular pouchpackagings has proved to be problematic, however. Such packagings areusually opened by tearing open the packaging, it being usual to providea notch in a lateral sealing seam by means of which further tearing of afoil forming the tubular pouch, generally of two side wall foils, isinitiated.

A further possible way of opening such a tubular pouch packaging is topull apart two side faces forming the tubular pouch in the region of aseal, the seal breaking open.

Those two variants of opening have the serious disadvantages, however,that when the packaging is torn into or torn open, the foil forming thetubular pouch tears in an undirected and uncontrolled way, so that thecontents of the packaging are spilled, resulting in loss of the packagedgoods.

Furthermore, after such tearing-open, the interior of the tubular pouchis often poorly accessible, because torn or residual portions of thepackaging make it difficult to gain access to the interior of thetubular pouch, for example with the hand or a spoon. Intentionallypouring out the contents of the packaging is also often impeded byresidual portions of the packaging, so that the contents of thepackaging on the one hand also come into contact with outer parts of thepackaging, with the result that firstly the contents of the tubularpouch can be contaminated on being poured out and on the other hand canbe dispensed only in an uncontrolled way.

Finally, a further variant of opening comprises the use of a pair ofscissors by means of which an upper portion of the closed tubular pouchis cut off and removed, so that the interior volume of the tubular pouchis then freely accessible. Although that variant enables a tubular pouchportion that closes the tubular pouch to be cleanly separated, itcreates the problem firstly that it is necessary always to have a pairof scissors to hand and secondly, if the scissors used are dirty, thereis a risk that both the cut edges and the contents of the tubular pouchwill be contaminated, with the result that the contents may becomeunusable.

The problem underlying the invention is to provide a tubular pouch ofthe kind mentioned at the beginning which can be opened hygienically,simply and without aids, so that the interior of the tubular pouch isaccessible without problems.

That problem is solved by a tubular pouch according to patent claim 1.

The problem is solved, in particular, by a tubular pouch having atubular pouch body and a lid piece and, optionally, a base, especially astanding base or stand-up base, the tubular pouch body having, in alid-piece region, a sloped and/or angled peripheral rim suitable forattachment of a lid piece.

The peripheral rim is in the form of an annular angle profile whichpreferably forms substantially a right angle.

The angle profile is attached to the tubular pouch body, preferably bymeans of an adhesive connection and/or sealing connection, so that onelimb of the angle profile extends slightly, for example from 1 mm to 10mm starting from the rim of the tubular pouch body, over the opening ofthe tubular pouch body. For that purpose, the angle profile can beeither sealed or adhesively bonded, preferably to the inside of thetubular pouch body. In a second alternative, the limb of the angleprofile that does not extend over the opening of the tubular pouch bodyis sealed and/or adhesively bonded to the tubular pouch body on theoutside.

An important concept of the invention is that on the tubular pouch bodythere is provided a portion which extends substantially in a directionspanning the opening of the tubular pouch body, on which the lid piececan be joined to the angle profile, and thereby to the tubular pouchbody, by means of an adhesive connection and/or sealing connection whichis especially at least partially releasable.

When the angle profile is mounted on the inside of the tubular pouchbody, the lid piece is mounted on the inner side of a limb of the angleprofile. The inner side of the angle profile in the context of thisinvention is to be understood as being that side of the angle profilethat includes the smaller angle, especially the 90° internal angle. Theouter side of the angle profile is to be understood as being the sideopposite from the inner side of the angle profile, which outer side,when the inner side has a 90° angle, then in turn describes a 270°external angle.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, the lid pieceis accordingly mounted on the outer side, in accordance with thedefinition, of a limb of the angle profile, which outer side in thiscase faces away from the tubular pouch body.

Advantageously, the lid piece of the tubular pouch according to theinvention is of planar construction and has at least one tab or ringwhich serves as a pulling device for opening the tubular pouch.

The tubular pouch is opened by gripping the tubular pouch body with onehand, or by fixing the tubular pouch body in some other way, while usingthe other hand to grip the tab of the lid piece or the ring attached tothe lid piece. By pulling on the ring or the tab, the lid piece is thendetached from the angle profile which, during closure of the tubularpouch, has been joined to the lid piece by means of an adhesive or bymeans of a sealing connection which is arranged to be at least partiallyreleasable.

Depending upon the adhesive used, the tubular pouch can be reclosable byrenewed pressing of the lid piece onto the adhesive surface of the angleprofile.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment the lid piece has atleast one predetermined breaking location, especially a predeterminedtearing line, along which the tubular pouch can be at least partiallyopened. By means of such a predetermined tearing line it is possible inthe first instance to remove only a portion of the lid piece, which isparticularly advantageous in the case of liquid contents in order toavoid spillage of the contents. With such a predetermined tearing lineit is also possible to optimise the opening behaviour of the tubularpouch, a preferential breakage edge being formed along the predeterminedtearing line when the tubular pouch is opened.

It should be emphasised at this point that the scope of this inventionalso includes multiple-chamber pouches the compartments of which areeach individually openable using afore-mentioned predetermined tearinglines in the lid piece.

Otherwise, the tubular pouch body itself and, where applicable, the lidpiece and/or the base of the tubular pouch is/are of relatively rigidconstruction. This is particularly advantageous when the tubular pouchcontains liquid or paste-form contents. When the contents are solid,they can themselves impart a certain stability to the tubular pouchbody.

A considerable advantage of a tubular pouch according to the inventionis that substantially the entire cross-sectional opening of the tubularpouch body can be opened, so that optimum access is gained to theinterior volume of the tubular pouch, including, for example, with aspoon, a fork or some other utensil.

Furthermore, when the contents are liquid, spillage thereof over the rimof the tubular pouch body can be avoided according to the invention byconfiguring the limb of the annular angle profile that extends slightlyover the opening of the tubular pouch body so that in the first instancethe liquid laps against the underside of that limb portion but cannotspill over the rim of the tubular pouch body. The length of that limbportion can be adapted as necessary; that is to say, it can be madeshorter or longer.

In accordance with one embodiment, the tubular pouch body is formed bymeans of fin-seal and/or lap-seal sealing or, alternatively, isextruded, especially seamlessly, in the form of a tube.

Furthermore, the tubular pouch body is preferably made from a laminate,especially an aluminium laminate, having at least one sealing layer andoptionally at least one barrier layer. The barrier layer preferablyconsists of SiO₂, AlO_(x), ethyl vinyl alcohol (EVOH) or a metal foil,for example an aluminium foil.

Moreover, the lid piece and/or the base are made substantially of thesame materials as the tubular pouch body. As a result, the tubular pouchcan be produced very cost-effectively, because both the lid piece andthe base are made of the same foil or the same laminate as the tubularpouch body itself. For that purpose, it is possible to use either thefoil forming the future tubular pouch body, prior to formation of thetubular pouch body, or a length of extruded tube, which are in each casedetached for forming the lid piece and the base.

For example, it is possible for such a short length of tube simply to besealed on one side to form the base and then incorporated into thetubular pouch body, with the latter optionally being stretched, andjoined sealingly thereto, that is to say sealed or adhesively bondedthereto.

Both the lid piece and the base and/or the tubular pouch body have athickness in the range of from 50 μm to 1000 μm, preferably from 80 μmto 500 μm, and especially from 100 μm to 350 μm. Adhering to thosedimensions on the one hand ensures that the tubular pouch is lightweightand has sufficient durability and stability, including forcarbonic-acid-containing pouch contents. Furthermore, the lid piece, thebase and the tubular pouch body itself is sterilisable, so that foods,beverages and stimulants can also be introduced into the tubular pouchand packaged hygienically therein.

Further embodiments of the invention will be found in the subsidiaryclaims.

The invention is described below on the basis of exemplary embodimentswhich are explained in greater detail with reference to the Figures.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a tubular pouchaccording to the invention in which the lid piece has been mounted onthe outer side of the angle profile;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a tubular pouchaccording to the invention in which the lid piece has been mounted onthe inner side of the angle profile; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a tubular pouchaccording to FIG. 2, wherein the lid piece has been slightly opened.

In the description which follows, parts that are the same or have thesame action have been given the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a tubular pouch 10, consisting of a tubular pouch body 20and a lid piece 30. The lid piece 30 has been sealed onto an angleprofile 45. The angle profile 45 is sealed by its shorter limb, whichextends in the direction towards the base of the tubular pouch 10, tothe outside of the tubular pouch body 20. The longer limb of the angleprofile 45, which extends over the opening of the tubular pouch body 20,serves for attachment of the lid piece 30. The inner side 47 of theangle profile faces the interior of the tubular pouch, while the lidpiece 30 is arranged on the outer side 49 of the angle profile 45. Thelid piece 30 has a tab 50. The dotted line indicates the angle profileextending around the rear peripheral rim of the tubular pouch body 20.

FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of a tubular pouch according to theinvention in which the angle profile 45 is attached to the inside 25 ofthe tubular pouch body. In this variant, the outer side 49 of the angleprofile 45 faces in the direction towards the interior of the tubularpouch, while the lid piece 30 is attached to the inner side 27 of theangle profile. The angle profile 45 itself is welded or sealed by itsshort limb in FIG. 2 to the rim of the tubular pouch body in thelid-piece region 35 thereof.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment according to the invention of a tubular pouch10 in which the tubular pouch according to FIG. 2 is shown except that,by pulling on the tab 50, the lid piece 30 has been opened slightly anddetached from the inner side 47 of the angle profile 45.

It should be pointed out here that all the above-described parts,considered alone and in any combination, especially the details shown inthe drawings, are claimed as being important to the invention.Modifications thereof will be familiar to the person skilled in the art.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 tubular pouch-   20 tubular pouch body-   25 inside of tubular pouch body-   30 lid piece-   35 lid-piece region-   40 peripheral rim-   45 angle profile-   47 inner side-   49 outer side-   50 pulling device, tab/ring

1.-15. (canceled)
 16. A tubular pouch, comprising: a tubular pouch bodyincluding a lid-piece region; and a lid piece adapted to be attached tothe tubular pouch body at the lid-piece region; wherein the tubularpouch body has, in the lid-piece region, a peripheral rim adapted forattachment of the lid piece, the rim being selected from the groupconsisting of a sloped rim, an angled rim, and a sloped and angled rim;and wherein the lid piece is mounted on an outer side of the peripheralrim.
 17. The tubular pouch of claim 16, wherein the pouch furthercomprises a base.
 18. The tubular pouch of claim 17, wherein the base isselected from the group consisting of a standing base and a stand-upbase.
 19. The tubular pouch of claim 16, wherein the peripheral rim isin the form of an annular angle profile.
 20. The tubular pouch of claim19, wherein the angle profile is substantially right-angled.
 21. Thetubular pouch of claim 19, wherein the lid piece is joined to the angleprofile by means of a connection selected from the group consisting ofan adhesive connection, a sealing connection, and an adhesive andsealing connection.
 22. The tubular pouch of claim 16, wherein the lidpiece is of a planar construction.
 23. The tubular pouch of claim 16,wherein the lid piece has at least one pulling device selected from thegroup consisting of a tab, and a ring.
 24. The tubular pouch of claim16, wherein the lid piece includes at least one predetermined breakinglocation, along which the tubular pouch is adapted to be at leastpartially opened.
 25. The tubular pouch of claim 24, wherein thebreaking location comprises a predetermined tearing line.
 26. Thetubular pouch of claim 16, wherein the angle profile is mounted on thetubular pouch body by means of a connection selected from the groupconsisting of an adhesive connection, a sealing connection, and anadhesive and sealing connection.
 27. The tubular pouch of claim 26,wherein the angle profile is mounted on an inside location of thetubular pouch body
 28. The tubular pouch of claim 17, wherein part(s)selected from the group consisting of the tubular pouch body, the lidpiece, the base, any two thereof, and all three thereof is/are ofrelatively rigid construction.
 29. The tubular pouch of claim 16,wherein the tubular pouch body is formed by means selected from thegroup consisting of a fin-seal, a lap-seal, a fin-seal and a lap-seal,and extrusion in the form of a tube.
 30. The tubular pouch of claim 16,wherein the tubular pouch body is made from a laminate having at leastone sealing layer.
 31. The tubular pouch of claim 30, wherein thelaminate comprises an aluminum laminate.
 32. The tubular pouch of claim30, wherein the laminate further comprises a layer selected from thegroup consisting of a barrier layer, an SiO₂ barrier layer, an AlO_(x)barrier layer, an ethyl vinyl alcohol barrier layer, and a metal foilbarrier layer.
 33. The tubular pouch of claim 17, wherein at least oneof the lid piece and the base is made of substantially the same materialas the tubular pouch body.
 34. The tubular pouch of claim 17, whereinpart(s) selected from the group consisting of the lid piece, the base,the tubular pouch body, any two thereof, and all three thereof have athickness selected from the group consisting of a thickness in the rangefrom about 50 μm to about 1000 μm, a thickness in the range from about80 μm to about 500 μm, and a thickness in the range from about 100 μm toabout 350 μm.
 35. The tubular pouch of claim 16, wherein at least one ofthe lid piece, the tubular pouch body and the base is adapted to besterilized.